Archives | Hugo Silva

It’s only October, but the network’s annual black-tie New Year’s Eve spectacular has already been in production for a grueling week and a half, and setbacks continue to accumulate. A falling crane has just taken out an extra, and the show’s hosts are at each other’s throats. Oversexed pop sensation Adán (Mario Casas) discovers he’s been duped by a semen thief, while legendary divo Alphonso (real-life singer Raphael) is stalked by an armed and unstable would-be songwriter (Jaime Ordóñez) who’s disgruntled after years of rejection.

Meanwhile, just outside the studio, riot police move in as demonstrators demand the arrest of the shows corrupt producer (Santiago Segura). My Big Night is a frenetic brew of Fellini, Altman and Almodóvar, building steadily toward a finale that’s a grand collapse into utter chaos.

After a debilitating fall, an unlucky neighbour finds himself trapped in the mad, cloistered world of two shut-in sisters, in this Misery-style Spanish thriller produced by Midnight Madness favourite Álex de la Iglesia.

When a bank heist in the city doesn’t all go according to plan, José and Tony find themselves in possession of some hostages and speeding through the mountains of Spain, hoping to quietly slip over the border. Not wanting to give up his custody days to his ex-wife, José has also brought his son along, for both the robbery and the ride. Little do they know that this is only the beginning of their troubles. When they decide to make a stop in a small tavern in the Basque countryside, the group encounters a series of local wackos. Falling victim to a mysterious spell, they soon find themselves the honored guests of a fractured family of witches who are preparing for an ancient ritual.

A technical failure (a kind of justifiable negligence, even though it sounds contradictory, but that’s what human actions are) has endangered the lives of the passengers on Peninsula Flight 2549. The pilots, hardened, experienced professionals are striving, along with their colleagues in the Control Center, to find a solution. The flight attendants and the chief steward are atypical, baroque characters who, in the face of danger, try to forget their own personal problems and devote themselves body and soul to the task of making the flight as enjoyable as possible for the passengers, while they wait for a solution. Life in the clouds is as complicated as it is at ground level, and for the same reasons, which could be summarized in two: sex and death.